The usual suspect: How to co-create healthier meat products

TY - JOUR

T1 - The usual suspect

T2 - How to co-create healthier meat products

AU - Barone, Ada Maria

AU - Banovic, Marija

AU - Asioli, Daniele

AU - Wallace, Erin

AU - Ruiz-Capillas, Claudia

AU - Grasso, Simona

PY - 2021/5

Y1 - 2021/5

N2 - Healthier meat products have a major economic potential and are attracting considerable research and media attention to meet the growing and complex consumer demand. Whether this potential will be realized and at what speed is contingent on consumers’ acceptance of these novel foods. This study uses a cross-cultural context to co-create new healthier meat products, while mapping the conditions leading to consumers’ product acceptance (vs. rejection). Results from online focus groups conducted in Denmark, Spain and the United Kingdom show that consumers generally have a negative attitude toward healthier meat products due to unfamiliarity and perception of over-processing. Nevertheless, partial meat-substitution with plant-based ingredients together with fat and salt reduction show specific conditions under which consumers’ acceptance would be possible. This is further related to product-specific factors: ingredients and base meat, and marketing-related factors: labelling and packaging. Finally, implications and recommendations for the manufacturing and marketing of new healthier meat products are provided.

AB - Healthier meat products have a major economic potential and are attracting considerable research and media attention to meet the growing and complex consumer demand. Whether this potential will be realized and at what speed is contingent on consumers’ acceptance of these novel foods. This study uses a cross-cultural context to co-create new healthier meat products, while mapping the conditions leading to consumers’ product acceptance (vs. rejection). Results from online focus groups conducted in Denmark, Spain and the United Kingdom show that consumers generally have a negative attitude toward healthier meat products due to unfamiliarity and perception of over-processing. Nevertheless, partial meat-substitution with plant-based ingredients together with fat and salt reduction show specific conditions under which consumers’ acceptance would be possible. This is further related to product-specific factors: ingredients and base meat, and marketing-related factors: labelling and packaging. Finally, implications and recommendations for the manufacturing and marketing of new healthier meat products are provided.

KW - ATTITUDE

KW - CONSUMER PREFERENCES

KW - CONSUMPTION

KW - Co-creation

KW - Consumer

KW - FOODS

KW - Healthy meat products

KW - NATURAL COMPOUNDS

KW - New product development

KW - Online focus group

KW - REDUCED LEVEL

KW - REFORMULATION

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85104943474

U2 - 10.1016/j.foodres.2021.110304

DO - 10.1016/j.foodres.2021.110304

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 33992324

SN - 0963-9969

VL - 143

JO - Food Research International

JF - Food Research International

M1 - 110304

ER -